When we recapped our most-read blog posts of 2016, the American Transportation Research Institute’s study of the top issues facing the trucking industry came in at the number 10 spot. At the time, ATRI was looking for participants in that survey, and now the results are in.
The ELD mandate was the number-one issue on everybody’s mind in 2016 – not surprising, as we’re now only one year away from enforcement of mandatory electronic logging devices in every truck built since the year 2000.
The ATRI conducts this survey every year, and the 2016 edition had one new entry in the top 10: The cumulative economic impacts of regulations. That came in at number 3, behind the ELD mandate and Hours of Service rules, both of which also just happen to be regulatory concerns. The new entry bumped driver health and wellness out of the top 10.
Here’s the full top 10 from ATRI’s survey:
- ELD Mandate
- Hours of Service
- Cumulative Economic Impact of Regulations
- Truck Parking
- Economy
- CSA
- Driver Shortage
- Driver Retention
- Infrastructure / Congestion / Funding
- Driver Distraction
Truck parking jumped up two spots from the previous year’s list, and the ATRI recently completed an in-depth case study of truck parking shortages. The study focused on times when the demand for parking was highest — evenings and early mornings on weekdays — and observed that drivers who used ELDs tended to spend more time looking for parking than drivers who did not.
In other words, the ELD mandate could make the parking problem worse.
The ATRI parking study included some recommendations. Some examples are more flexible appointments with shippers/receivers, drivers shifting their hours of operation, and carriers paying their drivers’ registration fees when they use parking reservation systems.
It’s a new year. What’s your top trucking concern for 2017? Let us know in our reader poll above or leave a comment.
